Jenna’s Weekend Food Prep #5

Here is another weekend food prep post that will hopefully inspire you to do some prepping yourself! It is so nice to get the majority of cooking done on a Saturday or Sunday and be free of cooking when coming home from work during the week. It frees up time to work out, hang out with family and friends and relax.

It was a beautiful day out this past Sunday, so my husband decided to grill out. He grilled brats and chicken breasts that I had marinating in BBQ sauce. The brats served as protein for his lunch and a dinner later in the week. And we had the chicken breasts as our protein source for dinner two nights. We also roasted sweet potato fries, brussels sprouts and green beans to go on the side.

Next, I made these Black Bean and Rice Burgers to take to work for lunch this week. I love this recipe and have made these a couple times. I topped them with pepper jack cheese and salsa and had tortilla chips and a vinaigrette slaw on the side. See the link below for the recipe:

I added a half red bell pepper (finely chopped) and garlic powder for extra color and flavor. I also added the cilantro to the burgers and didn’t make the sauce it called for.

I doubled the recipe as these burgers are great for freezing and eating later.

I baked the burgers longer than what it called for, about 7 minutes on each side. It will depend on how thick you make them. Letting them rest for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before removing them really helps them firm up.

Lastly, I made Vegetable Turkey Meatloaf, in both a loaf pan and muffin tin. It may not look like the most appealing dish, but it tastes delicious! I am keeping the loaf in the fridge to eat for dinner later this week and freezing meatloaf cups for another week. This is another great recipe to freeze and reheat. I didn’t use a specific recipe, but below is a rough overview of how I made it. I think meatloaf is one dish that is hard to mess up, so feel free to adjust the veggies and seasonings used.

Ingredients:

2 lbs Lean Ground Turkey

3/4 cup Quick Cooking Oats

1/2 cup Skim Milk

3 Green Onions (chopped)

4 Garlic Cloves (minced)

1 & 3/4 cups Mushrooms (finely chopped)

1/2 Red Bell Pepper (finely chopped)

1 cup Shredded Carrots

1 cup Shredded Cabbage

4 Eggs

1/4 cup Ketchup

Salt and Pepper

Dried Thyme and Sage (can use any dry or fresh herbs you prefer)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400

Mix quick oats and skim milk in a bowl and set aside

Saute green onion, mushrooms, bell pepper, shredded carrots and cabbage until most of the water from the veggies has cooked off.